Yankees skip the catcher at deadline, fans revolt

Every year it's something with this front office, and this year it was the catcher spot. Austin Wells has been a black hole in the lineup for most of the season, and instead of going out and getting a real answer behind the plate, Brian Cashman brought back two platoon bats and called it a day. The reaction from the Barstool baseball crowd was immediate and it wasn't pretty.

Eric Hubbs

@BarstoolHubbs

3/10 deadline for the Yanks Acquired two platoon bats. Garcia will help against righties at 1st and Ramos against lefties. Neither help answer a position of need. No platoon infielder for Jazz/McMahon. Inexplicably no catcher. Can’t believe they didn’t get a catcher. So bad

Hubbs graded the whole deadline a 3/10, and that's being generous. Luis Garcia helps against righties, Heliot Ramos helps against lefties, and neither one moves the needle at the position everyone knew was the problem. No catcher. No infield help for the middle of the diamond. And as it turns out, the Yankees weren't even the team that landed the best catcher on the board — Baltimore shipped Rutschman to the Red Sox instead, with Boston sending back Carlos Narváez, outfield prospect Enddy Azocar, and pitching prospects Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon plus cash. Cashman later admitted he talked to the Orioles about Rutschman before deciding the price was too steep.

Tommy Smokes summed up the frustration from a different angle, pointing out the Yankees needed three things and got zero of them.

Tommy Smokes

@TomScibelli

The Yankees needed a catcher, an infielder that can hit who plays 2B/SS/3B and bullpen help. They got absolutely none of that. Why do we even bother caring about this organization anymore

Wells has posted a 51 OPS+ this season, one of the worst offensive years by a Yankees catcher in recent memory, and Cashman's plan was apparently to just ride it out. Hubbs didn't hide his disbelief that the front office would stand pat behind a catcher having that kind of year, and the jokes about Wells' pitching staff paying the price piled up fast.

Eric Hubbs

@BarstoolHubbs

I'd pitch like shit too if my battery mate after the deadline was still Austin Wells.

It wasn't just the lineup. The bullpen didn't get touched either, and that's the other half of the deadline-day gripe. Cashman is banking on Will Warren, ERC, Ryan Weathers and Clarke Schmidt to eat innings and get outs down the stretch — not exactly a group anyone feels great trusting in high leverage come October. Barstool Baseball put the whole verdict in one line after Hubbs laid out his full breakdown of the deadline.

Barstool Baseball

@StoolBaseball

Brian Cashman Failing To Acquire a Catcher Or Any Bullpen Help At The Trade Deadline Is Incomprehensible And May Very Well Have Sealed The Yankees Fate This Year @BarstoolHubbs

The Yankees are now staring down a stretch run where their catcher is a below-replacement bat, their bullpen is unreinforced, and the two teams they're chasing in the AL both went out and got better at the position they ignored. Hubbs put it bluntly: this front office is now leaning entirely on health luck to survive, and if Wells or the current relief corps go down, there's no reinforcement coming. The Red Sox, meanwhile, get to plug in a former All-Star catcher for the stretch run — the exact move the Yankees passed on.